In this physical science lab, students investigate whether or not chewing gum should be considered eating. Students plan their own experiments for this lab. They use the law of conservation of mass to reason that the portion lost of the original mass of gum must be swallowed. Students determine the portion of original mass of gum. A student lab sheet and CER template are provided.

Students learn about material balances, a fundamental concept of chemical engineering. They use stoichiometry to predict the mass of carbon dioxide that escapes after reacting measured quantities of sodium bicarbonate with dilute acetic acid. Students then produce the reactions of the chemicals in a small reactor made from a plastic water bottle and balloon.

Students learn how engineers design devices that use water to generate electricity by building model water turbines and measuring the resulting current produced in a motor. Student teams work through the engineering design process to build the turbines, analyze the performance of their turbines and make calculations to determine the most suitable locations to build dams.

Through this lab, students are introduced to energy sciences as they explore redox reactions and how hydrogen fuel cells turn the energy released when hydrogen and oxygen are combined into electrical energy that can be read on a standard multimeter. They learn about the energy stored in bonds and how, by controlling the reaction, this energy can be turned into more or less useful forms.

There are many misconceptions about the chemistry concept, “Conservation of Mass”. Thus, the aim of this video lesson is to teach students about the chemical concept of Conservation of Mass through several chemistry experiments. The students will carry out experiments while assisting a fortune teller named Pak Belalang to gain victory for his kingdom. In an effort to help Pak Belalang, students should be able to answer all the questions related to the Conservation of Mass that are posed by an evil witch. In this video, materials such as a box of matches, a closed and open container, a box of panadol soluble tablets (Alka-Seltzer), and weighing scales are needed. At the end of the lesson, students will be able to see that mass is “conserved”. The lesson will take up to 60 minutes to complete.

Students learn about the water cycle and its key components. First, they learn about the concept of a watershed and why it is important in the context of engineering hydrology. Then they learn how we can use the theory of conservation of mass to estimate the amount of water that enters a watershed (precipitation, groundwater flowing in) and exits a watershed (evaporation, runoff, groundwater out). Finally, students learn about runoff and how we visualize runoff in the form of hydrographs.